1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for deep fat frying comestibles, such as potato products including potato pieces in conventional french fry cut form. The apparatus of the present invention is particularly suitable for the timed frying of comestibles. The apparatus of the present invention is specifically adapted for use in combination with apparatus and devices for reconstituting dehydrated products into shaped pieces, particularly dehydrated potato products reconstituted as homogenous potato dough which has been divided and separated into pieces having the shape of french fry cut potato pieces prior to frying.
2. Discussion of Background and Materials Information
In the production of fried food products, it is conventional to deposit sliced vegetable products, such as potatoes, or pieces of battered and breaded food products, such as chicken and the like, in a foraminous basket which is then submerged into a vessel containing a hot oil cooking medium, such as or grease, for a predetermined period of time prior to removing the basket and draining the oil from the fried food product. The fried product is then removed from the basket and portioned into appropriate sized servings. Although batch processes may be effective for home use or in small operations, batch cooking is not particularly suitable for relatively high volume production, as is the case in a restaurant or institution, such as fast-food establishments which are now so popular.
Another disadvantage of conventional, batch-type cooking operations is that they require an attendant to monitor the cooking operation from start to finish including introducing the food product into the fryer, agitating the product during the frying process, removing the food product from the fryer when cooking is completed, and delivering the fried food product to an area for portioning into the desired servings. In addition to being time-consuming, it is often left to the discretion of the attendant to decide when these steps should be taken. Inasmuch as these are subjective determinations, usually based on sighted observations, this often leads to unacceptable results.
In an attempt to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, there have been many attempts to develop a suitable automatic, deep-fat cooker.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,924, HICKEY, is a representative example of such prior art device. The deep-fat cooker has multiple, annular pocket reels for cooking food as the food products, contained within the pockets, are conveyed through the frying oil. The pockets are arranged to carry products, such as french fries, through a bath of cooking oil or fat. The product pockets are defined by transverse partitions that bridge or interconnect two flat end rings of each pocket reel. The product is fed into each pocket reel by a gravity feed chute. Each pocket reel is independently driven in order that the product it carries may have a cooking time independent of the product in the other pocket reel or reels. It is disclosed that this particular arrangement is compact and efficient in operation. The cooked product may be removed from either side of the reels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,637,401, KUHLMAN, relates to deep-fat frying and more particularly to a method and apparatus for continuously, pressure-cooking food material in hot cooking oil. The apparatus is made up of a generally U-shaped vessel or container which is filled with heated cooking medium to establish a U-shaped column of oil. The vessel is constructed to be sufficiently large so that the oil exerts a desired pressure at the lowermost portion of the column. A continuously operating conveyor is positioned in the U-shaped vessel. The conveyor is provided with a plurality of partitions defining a continuous series of compartments for carrying food through the hot cooking oil. In operation, the conveyor carries the food material contained in each compartment downwardly into the U-shaped column of oil, thereby exposing the food material to increasing oil pressures. The temperatures in the U-shaped column and the speed of the conveyor are adjusted so that the food will be properly cooked when dispensed from the cooking vessel.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,957, JONES, is directed to a deep-fat fryer apparatus includes a conveyor means for receiving thin slices of potato and for conveying them along a curved path, within the fryer. The conveyor includes two belts which trap thin slices of potato therebetween for subsequent passage through the cooking oil. A removal station is positioned slightly above the cooking area of the device. This area contains the tray or other suitable receptacle for receiving the material discharged from between the conveyor belts as they exit the fryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,730, SCHINDLER et al., is directed to an apparatus for automatically frying food products. The process involves the operations of feeding, frying and discharging food. The apparatus includes an elongated reservoir for holding a predetermined amount of cooking liquid. The conveyor provided within the cooking liquid for moving the french fries or similar material during cooking includes an endless belt mounted on a horizontal transverse axis with one of the axis defining a loading end of the conveyor at a location in the reservoir to provide a generally unobstructed free-fall area below the hopper discharge aperture. The reservoir conveyor belt is generally flexible and has transverse foraminous paddles extending outwardly from the flexible belt so as to define a forward conveying path below the belt and a return path above the belt. The conveyor has longitudinally aligned first and second portions with the first portion arranged with the flexible belt disposed generally horizontally and submerged within the cooking liquid in the forward conveying path and above the liquid in the return path. The second portion of the reservoir conveyor is angled upwardly with respect to the first portion and extends out of the cooking oil to the reservoir discharge aperture.
In addition to the aforementioned representative examples of automatic, deep-fat fryers used in otherwise conventional food preparation processes, fryers have also been specifically designed for use in conjunction with apparatus and devices for reconstituting dehydrated products into a dough or similar material which can be formed into shapes suitable for frying. Typically, such reconstituted food products are less tolerant to deviations in cooking parameters such as time and temperature and, thus, require a more closely controlled frying operation which is best provided by an automatic deep-fat fryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,171, HARTLEY et al., is one example of such an integrated system which includes an automatic mixing unit including an extruder and a cooking well. The mixing unit includes a mixing bowl, paddle and means for automatically metering into the bowl a prescribed quantity of liquid required to reconstitute a dry product into an extrudable dough. The extruder includes a barrel through which the material prepared in the bowl is extruded by means of a rotatable worm which extends from the mixing bowl to the extrusion head. The cooking well is provided with at least one inclined wall and a conveyor mechanism slidably received in the cooking well. The flights of the conveyor within the cooking well are automatically set into motion upon activation of the motor powering the device. In operation, the flights move downwardly from the inclined upper wall portion of the well and then around and upwardly along the lower wall portion. During this motion they are held in an outwardly extending position by means of contact between the bottom of the wing and track on the downward run and the cam and track in the upper run. As each flight moves into a position upstream of the extrusion head, the upper surface of the flight contacts a cam member mounted on a support plate which tips the flight upwardly about its pivoted connection to the chains to form an opening into which the extruded product may drop. As each flight moves past the cam, the track assures that the flight pivots back into its normal position. As the flights move upwardly along the bottom wall portion of the well and reach the relieved portion, they tip backwardly and allow the cooked product to slide from the cooking compartment into any suitable receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,683, BARTFIELD, is directed to an apparatus for cooking and dispensing individual portions of fried food. The frying apparatus includes a tank filled with cooking oil into which a conveyor belt or revolving wire conveyor having a plurality of openings formed therein to prevent drainage is associated. The conveyor belt is rotated by a drive connected by a pin-and-slot or bayonet-type connection to the output shaft of a motor. The direction of rotation of the shaft is reversable to drive the belt in either a first direction in which the belt carries the food product into the tank, or in a second direction in which the belt carries cooked food product towards the outlet of the apparatus. When the belt is driven in a first direction, an end portion of the belt is moved from a first position above the level of the liquid in the tank to a second position in which the end portion extends below the level of the liquid. Rotation of the belt in the opposite direction results in the return of the submerged end portion to a position spaced above the level of the liquid within the tank. In operation, the conveyor belt carries pieces of food into the basket and ensures separation of the pieces severed during a preceding operation from those severed during a succeeding operation. After the desired number of individual pieces has been severed and cooked, the drive of the belt is reversed so as to deliver the individual heated pieces towards the outlet of the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,776,126 and 4,001,451, VEENEMAN et al., commonly owned with the present application are directed to an apparatus and process for automatically and continuously, deep-fat frying food products, such as reconstituted potato dough shapes. The fryer is arranged to receive a preselected quantity of shaped potato dough pieces, retain the dough pieces in a heated zone of cooking oil for a preselected period of time, and thereafter drain excess cooking oil from the pieces and remove them from the cooking zone. The automatic deep-fat fryer is provided with rotatable, perforated rotor blades adapted to be periodically driven in a timed sequence so as to advance the potato pieces from the point of feed input to removal from the device. The rotor blades prevent the free floating potato dough pieces from sticking together as they are tumbled during the rotational advancement of the blades during the cooking process. Such tumbling simulates manual shaking, thereby ensuring complete and uniform contact of the hot oil with the surface of each food piece. In operation, a supply of potato dough pieces are deposited in a cylindrically shaped, perforate basket immersed in a tank of cooking oil. The potato dough pieces are advanced through and out of the oil bed by the rotation of one of the perforate plates. Once the cooking step has been completed, the position of the perforate plates is adjusted so that the cooked pieces are retained thereon above the hot oil for an additional period of time during which the excess oil is allowed to drain back into the cooking oil bath. Thereafter, the drained, cooked pieces of food products are mechanically removed from the perforate plate. During the draining and removal steps, rotational advancement of the perforate plate is temporarily interrupted.
As is the deep-fat fryer of the present invention, the VEENEMAN et al. apparatus is particularly suitable for use with apparatus for reconstituting dehydrated food products, such as potatoes, into an homogenous dough which is formed into appropriate shapes for deep-fat frying, such as the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,605,647, 3,771,937, 4,056,345, and 4,093,125, commonly owned with the present application. The disclosure of the commonly owned patents is incorporated herein by reference for disclosure of relevant subject matter.
The apparatus of the present invention is equally suited for frying all types of food products, including various potato products, such as french fries made from raw potatoes, or for the finish-frying of food products from the frozen state or after thawing of frozen, par-fried food products, and particularly potato products fabricated from potato dough made by reconstituting dehydrated potato particles and products.